My dog was on a steroid for a rash and was completely out of control so the vet took him off of them. I'm afraid the behavior has stuck. Has anyone else have his problem?
Sorry I haven't any experience with steroids and my dog. How long was he on them and when did he last have them? When you say out of control, what is he doing? Did the vet give you any advice? Sorry lots of questions.
Yes please, can you give us a little more information? What and where was the rash, what was the steroid and what is the behaviour that has stuck?
We use steroids for skin allergies. It's always worrying when something isn't quite right. Have you had a chat about this with the vet? With steroids it is important to gradually taper off the dose. This is because the active chemical is naturally produced by the body and when you start medicating with steroids the body stops producing its own natural version. So you slowly reduce the steroid dose to give the body the chance to begin production again, rather than it all coming to a sudden stop. Your vet would have given you instructions on tapering off the dose - did that happen? Or did it have to happen suddenly because of his behaviour change? I'm sure the vet would've considered whether there was a need to reduce gradually or whether it didn't matter in this circumstance.
The rash was on his belly. He was taking prednisone and on the second day he was barking uncontrollably. We couldn't stop him from barking jumping and putting his mouth on anything and everything. He has never acted like this. Only way I could describe it that he wanted to come out his skin he just couldn't stop himself and would not sit, lay down even in his kennel
How often are you seeing this behaviour now that he's stopped the steroids? How long does it last for each time?
Last pill was given yesterday and he is still acting like that today. He is now going at our ankles and biting us.
But is he doing it occasionally, in bursts? I'm assuming from your avatar that your dog is quite young. If so, it could actually be normal behaviour... Lots of young dogs/growing puppies have bouts of high energy where they act like a whirling dervish and grab onto things, bite, leap and generally go a bit nuts. It could just be a co-incidence that he's started doing this when you began the steroid treatment.
Do steroids make a dog more hungry? I don't know why this comes to mind... but I think humans on steroids report being hungrier? Or am I confusing this with humans on steroids retaining water, looking like they're fatter/eating more -- referring to diabetics on steroids. But you also hear of muscle men on steroids who are aggressive, ie steroids affecting behaviour. Sorry, I have lots of questions, too, about steroids! Although from our experience, when Snowie is on the odd prednisone for itching, he becomes far calmer and sleeps more easily (but he's not a puppy).
Steroids make Obi sleepy and want to drink (and pee) more. At least for the first couple of days. They generally don't make dogs more active, as far as I know - more common to become a bit lethargic.
One of my dogs takes steroids long term for an inflammatory brain disease . It took a while to reach a low but therapeutic dose for her , and she did certainly drink more at first , therefore pee more . Our Vet says that in some dogs , steroids can bring about a " Feel good factor " , which they certainly have done in her . I guess like all medications , dog react differently to certain ones .
I can certainly relate to the wanting to get out of my own skin when I've had an allergic reaction to something. It may be a combination of many coincidences with your puppy, the rash being itchy, the steroids may have made itching worse which is unusual but possible if he is allergic or something, his age and normal puppy antics kicking in at the same time etc. It seems he was only on the steroids for a couple of days so hopefully they will be out of his system soon if they aren't already. I'd be inclined to speak with your vet and ask him to explain to you about the steroids and if he thinks they caused the reactions in your pup, how long before the steroids clear the system. If he does believe it was them I think he/she would be letting the drug company know as adverse reactions should be reported. I hope you get some answers, it must be awful to not know which way to turn. Usually for the puppy biting some use distraction with a toy, I used time out as previous 'distraction' didn't work for us but in your case I'd also be worrying as not sure that putting him in time out is fair if his issues are due to very uncomfortable and irritating rash. But there again rash could be less irritatating if he's put somewhere to be calmed down and not get hotter. Sorry, I've probably totally confused you now by trying to think of the many variables of 'could be' or 'may be'.
I'm still not sure how old puppy is but Prednisone is serious, scary stuff and I'm curious what kind of rash would prompt it's use on a puppy. It is critical that Prednisone be taped off slowly, sure hope that was done. REally, I think you may be experiencing a co-incidence with the behaviour and the Pred. use happening at the same time. Certainly the behaviour you describe is often reported here in puppies, who are acting normally, if not the way we want them to, and it's a matter of training to re-direct them to more appropriate play. If there is a connection at all I can only guess puppy's normal wild, unappreciated was inhibited by the discomfort of the rash. ONce the rash was under control he felt better and acted that way. In the link below it says "altered behaviour" is a side effect of taking Prednsione but it doesn't say what it might be. You told your Vet about all this, I hope? If your pup's behaviour is due to the drug your Vet will want to know and may want to report it to the manufacturer. http://www.petmd.com/pet-medication/prednisone-prednisolone This second link tells you why Prednisone must be tapered off gradually. http://www.mayoclinic.org/prednisone-withdrawal/expert-answers/faq-20057923 Good luck, it's not fun wondering what's going on and if puppy is still experiencing some discomfort.
